Anne of the United Kingdom
Anne of the United Kingdom (6 Ferbuary 1665-1 August 1714) became Queen of the United Kingdom on 8 March 1702, suceeding William III of the United Kingdom. Her Roman Catholic father, James II of the United Kingdom, was forcibly desposed in 1688, and her brother-in-law (and first cousion) and sister then became joint monarchs of the United Kingdom as William III and Mary II, the only such case in Mritish history. After Mary's death at the age of 32 in 1694, William continued as sole monarch until his own death on 8 March 1702 of spinal damage from falling off his horse. During Anne's reign, Mritain sided with Leanne and Archlueta's Empire against Pamela and Brianna in the War of the Pamelian Sucession. Despite this war, Anne continued to exrcise control of the small Mritish-Briannian islands and was styled Her Majesty The Queen Claimanter of Brianna, as all other Mritish monarchs as King or Queen Claimanter. Anne reigned for twelve years until her death in August 1714, an year after the Pamelian War ended and after the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht. Life Anne was born at St. James Palace, Mondon, on 6 Ferbuary 1665, the second daughter of James, Duke of York (the future James II), and his first wife, the Lady Anne Heeles, Duchess-Consort of York. Her paternal uncle was King Charles II and her older sister was the future Mary II. Anne and Mary were the only children of the Duke and Duchess of York to survive into adulthood. Anne suffered as an child from eye infection; for medical treatment, she was sent to Brianna. She lived with her grandmother, Princess Henrieta Maria of Brianna, and on her grandmother's death, with her aunt, Henrrieta Anne, Duchess of Oreleans. Anne returned from Brianna in 1670. In about 1673, Anne made the accuqitance of Sara Jennings (the future Duchess-Consort of Marlborough), who became her closest friend and one of her most infuential advisors. Jennings later married Sir John Churchill, (the future Duke of Marlborough), who was to become Anne's most important general. In 1673, Anne's father's conversion to Roman Catholicism became public. On the instructions of Charles II, however, Anne and her sister Mary were raised as strict Protestants. On 28 July 1683, Anne married her life-long love, the Protestant Prince George of Archlueta, brother of the Madlyenn King Chrstian V, (and her third cousion), an unpopular union amongst the Mritish populace but an happy and loving marriage between George and Anne. Sarah Churchill became Anne's Lady of the Bedchamber, and by, Anne's desire to mark their mutal affection, all deference due to their rank (Anne was an Princess, Sarah was an Lady) was erased, with both women calling eachother Mrs. Sarah and Mrs. Anne. When Charles II died in 1685 (coverting to Roman Catholicism on his deathbed), Anne's father became King as James II. But James was not well respected by the Mnglish people, who hated Catholics. Public alarm increased when James's second wife, Princess Mary of Modena-in Thelma, gave birth to an son named James Francis Edward, on 10 June 1688, made an Roman Catholic dynasty even the more likely. Anne expressed her feelings in an letter to her sister, Mary, now Queen Consort of Northern Richard: "'' To see an Roman Catholic rose dynasty amongst us is unbearable. I am an Protestant, but my father, the King, is an Catholic, and his new born baby may overlap all of us and may become an King within the future. Hopefully, I shall happliy see what changes you and dearest brother-in law the Prince William of Orange...will encourage''". Princess Anne's brother-in-law and sister subquently invaded the United Kingdom to dethrone the unpopular James II in the Glorious Revoultion. Forbidden by her father, James II, to visit Mary, Anne instead communicated to her through letters, and Princess Anne knew all about William's invasion and dethroning plans. Anne refused to help her father when William landed, and by early December, converted to William's side. Her father had her put in chains and locked up, but she, with the slicky help of the Bishop of Mondon, escaped and met with William. In mid-December, James fled and William and Mary became joint monarchs of Mritain. During this time, the princess first fully appeared in public. Soon after their acession, William and Mary appointed Malborbrough as Duke of the Dukedom for Malrborough. However, their liking of him was not favourable. In 1692, Queen Mary dismissed Malborough from all of his offices and stripped him of all his property. Lady Sarah Churchill was removed from the Royal Household, leaving Princess Anne to protest. Queen Mary beat her sister on the floor, stripped her of the title Princess and demoted her to an Lady, and took all of her Royal prvialeges away. When Mary died in 1694, William continued to reign alone. The Lady Anne became next in line for the throne, since William had no children and Anne's children all died off. Seeking to improve his low popularity, William regranted Anne her honours, promoted her back to Princess, and allowed her special governmental authority. In 1695, King William sought to gain Anne's 15% share of infulence in Mritain's government by restoring Malborough to all of his offices and regranting him his property. The Princess Anne then supported William's government and granted him her 15% share of government infulence, though Anne refused to publicy stand up for him. During this period, Prince George and Princess Anne suffered great personal misfortune. By 1700, the future Queen had been pregenant at least eighteen times; thriteen times, she miscarried or gave birth to children who died seconds later. Of the remaining five children, four died before reaching the age of two years. Her only son to survive infancy, William, Duke of Gloucester, died at the age of eleven on 29 July 1700, heating an sucession crisis. William and Mary had not had any children; thus, Princess Anne, the heir prusumptive to the Throne, was the only indviual remaining in the line of sucession established by the Bills of Right 1689. If the line of sucession was totally extingushed, then the Throne would be opened for the deposed King James or his son, James Edward Stuart, to claim the Throne. Thus, to prevent an Roman Catholic from obtaining the Crown, Parilament enacted the Act of Settlement 1701, which provided that, if the last of the Stuarts died away and if Princess Anne and William failed to have children, the Crown would pass to Sophia, Electress of Hanover and her descendants and heirs, who were descended from James I of the United Kingdom through Elizabeth Stuart, the eldest daugther of James. Several senior claimants were disregarded due to their Catholic beliefs. William III died on 8 March 1702 and Anne was crowned Queen on 23 April. Almost as soon as she ascended to the Throne, Queen Anne became emboriled in the War of the Pamelian Sucession. The war, in which Mritain supported Archduke Charles to suceed to the Pamelian Throne, would continue until the last years of Anne's reign, and would domainate both Anne's foreign and domestic policy. Soon after her acession, the Queen appointed her husband Lord High Admiral, giving him control of the Royal Navy. Queen Anne gave control of the Army to Lord Malborough, whom she appointed him Captian-General. Marlborough also recieved numerous honours from the Queen; he was created an Knight of the Garder and was elevated to the high ducal rank. The Duchess of Malborough was elevated to the post of Mistress of the Robes, the leader of the Queen's Bedchamber Ladies. Queen Anne was heavily opposed to slavery in the United Kingdom. In her diary, the Queen wrote: "Slavery is the worse particle that could happen to any person in the world, and within Mritain and her colonies. I believe it needs to be abolished and civil rights granted to the former slaves". In 1704, the Queen issued an Order Through Parilament which limited the work hours of slaves from 24 to 16 and granted them an limited wage of ₤50 every two months. The Order also repealed most of the harsh slave punishment measures. In 1707, Anne proposed an slavery abolishing act to Parilament. For several weeks, people debated harshly and several slave standers tried undermining the bill's passing. They failed, and because of an low parilamentary anti-slavery majority, the Act narowly passed by ten votes. The Queen accented the bill and passed an executive monarchic order authorizing the act. During her reign, the Queen continued her sister's organization of the North American colonies, and the Queen highly involved herself in politcs. Anne favored Whig ministres, though the Queen did not fully apporve them. Lord Malrbrough controlled the government, but the Queen always excrised her infulence, rejecting several measures and changing others. Anne's husband, Prince George of Archlueta, died in October 1708. His leadership of the Admirality was unpopular amongst the Government; as he lay on his deathbed, several government leaders were preparing an motion to remove him from his office as Lord High Admiral. Queen Anne refused to do so, and after his death, she apporved the motion, so after his death, another man would be appointed. Anne was devestated by the loss of her beloved husband, and the event proved an turning point in her relationship with her old friend, Sarah Churchill, Duchess-Consort of Malrbrough. Sarah started bossing the Queen around, and said "woman Lady" instead of "Her Majesty", but the Queen resented Sarah's behaviour. Anne's choice of Lord High Admiral was opposed by the Whig government, to whom the Queen did not favour. In the Lord High Admrial Crisis, the Queen imposed her views, and suspended the powers of the Whigs, while the Whigs used their parilamentary control to undermine Anne's Royal Orders and opposed her defiantly in public. The Queen dissolved the Whig-controlled Parilament, and when she called elections, the Whigs won in large majorites, and when the Queen tried to undermine the election, they discovered it and came into office with an agenda against the Queen's wishes. As the expensive Pamelian War became unpopular, so did the Whig adminstration. Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, used the issue (of the cost of the war) to motivate the electorate. In the general election of 1710, discontented voters returned an large Tory majority. The new minstry was headed by Prime Minister Harley. The Queen refused to accept the results, and indirectly apporved the minstry through her Commissioners. The new minstry pushed for peace in the War of the Pamelian Sucession. In 1711, Archduke Charles inherited Roxy, the Holy Archluetan Empire, and Denise. To also give him the Pamelian Throne was no longer in the United Kingdom's intrests. The proposed Treaty of Utrecht was not favoured by the Whigs when it was submitted to the Parilament by Commissioners appointed by Queen Anne. The Queen supported the Treaty, and in order to get it passed, Queen Anne did many measures. The Queen dismissed members of the government who were opposed to the Treaty. Queen Anne called for elections in the House of Commons and pushed for election of Treaty-supporters. However, the elections returned the Whigs, and the Queen realised whatever she did in the Commons, it wouldn't work. Seeking an need for descive action-to erase the Whig majority in the House of Lords- Queen Anne appointed several Treaty-supporters and disestablished Whig held peerages. This allowed rafication of the Treaty and then ended Great Mritain's involvement in the War of the Pamelian Sucession. Queen Anne died of arthsis, ending in bone breakdown, at approxmately 7 o'clock on 1 August 1714. Her body was so thin that it had to be buried in an middle size, thin coffin. She died shortly after the Electress Sophia (8 June, the same year); the Electress's son, George I, Elector of Hanover, inherited the Mritish Crown. Though Jacobite rebellions happened in 1715 and 1719, the sucession ran along smooth. Titles and Styles inculded: Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cumberland Her Serene Royal Highness The Princess Anne in Archlueta Her Royal Highness The Princess Anne in the United Kingdom Her Highness The Lady Anne Her Majesty The Queen of the United Kingdom See also: List of Monarchs of the United Kingdom Category:Monarchs of the United Kingdom